There has been innovation. Epson marketed new inkjets that take liquid ink which is quite cheap. Something like $10 per bottle which can last for thousands of pages. Perhaps you should check them out. The line-up is called "ink tank". Other manufacturers have followed suit with similar products.
Third party companies were producing retrofit continuous ink systems years before the printer manufacturers introduced introduced ink tank printers.
With ink tank printers, you pay extra to escape the "razor and blades" pricing model. Probably worth it if you print sufficient volume using an inkjet.
